Sleeping on a Hope
by demando
Summary: Winter brings snow...and romance. And in the isolated realm of Yamaku, a certain narcoleptic girl gets the chance to find love. Pairing Miki / Suzu


All credit goes to 4 LEAF STUDIOS. Read, review and enjoy.

Anyways, this is a Suzu / Miki centered story. Will contain shoujo ai, but no explicit sexual content…in the first chapters, at least.

**0000**

Though being build on high ground, Yamaku was barely visible from the town bellow. The part of it that was, had the strange look of a medieval castle. One from which the young crippled lords looked down on a world that was ill prepared to look after them, or that was even prepared to accept their existence. As long as the town and the school were separated, this distinction could be kept.

It wasn't just the distance. Tranquility also played it's role. Despite the town being quiet, the school was not. Each student seemed to be more lively than their counterparts at "normal" schools. It was just a way to protest against life. A way to show that they can enjoy their own existence better than others.

The blanket of snow that now covered the school grounds, the roads and the town was a goldmine for fun. Sure, fun was had each time opportunity arose, but there was just something magical about snow. The sound it made under foot, the cold, the tangibility of the process that changed water from liquid to solid.

But for most of the students, it was just the fun.

**Snowflakes in my sleep**

The road that connected Yamaku to the city below was less crowded than usual for a Friday afternoon. It wasn't just the weather. Christmas was barely three days away, and with the advent of the winter break, students were now heading off to their homes in droves. The ones who still remained were the ones who had no family, those whose parents were away, or those who just elected to stay.

Such was the case for Miki.

She was strolling along the nearly deserted road, keeping both hands in her pockets. Not just because of the cold, but also to the fact that she was one mitten short of a pair. The second of the pair was dangling in her back pocket, swaying as she moved. Try as she might, the instinct was always to take both of them. Even though she had lost her hand barely ten months ago, the sensation of having both arms intact still lingered.

She passed by a group of three students, one of them from the track team. They greeted her, and she waved her bandaged arm in reply. Quickly, she stuck it back into her pocket. Even here, it was weird for the students to flash their disabilities. For some, this was inevitable, since they were obvious, as in her case.

Wind speed had picked up as she made the corner to the convenience store, but not to the point where it could become a blizzard. With the exception of two cars, the parking lot was empty. Either the locals had finished their shopping, or the discount fever hadn't begun, she assumed.

She entered the sliding doors, and picked up a red basket, balancing it on the elbow of her damaged arm. The shelves were still decently packed, but the customers were scant. An elderly couple, and one Yamaku student shared the store. She greeted two girls from her class, as they made her way out the door.

Only one student remained in the shop. A distinctive girl, with short blue hair, which by now was half full of goods. She and Suzu didn't have much contact, since they were into such different clubs. After all, books and sports rarely mix. They time they spend in class was nice enough, though the routine and generally boring lectures that flowed from Mutou made it hard to keep a steady line of thoughts.

Then there was Suzu's problem.

More than once she would fall asleep in class. Mutou, in this case, was powerless. Stopping it wasn't in his abilities. It wasn't due to overstraining on her part. The Indian girl wasn't aware of the technical term for what was wrong with her, so she decided just to call it _sleepus communus. _

She noticed Suzu straining under the weight. The bag was now nearly full.

"Need a hand?" asked Miki, coming next to her.

"Think you can spare the other one as well?" giggled the blue haired girl.

_Shoot, fell right into that one, didn't I? _she scolded herself.

"No, but I can help you carry some of those."

Suzu nodded, and began to place some of the groceries in Miki's basket. The Indian girl mentally scanned the items. A large mixture of juices, instant meals, cookies, coffee, bread, several meat items, and fruits.

"What gives, cooking for an army?"

"No, just some of the students from the literature club. Several of them are staying here for the holydays, so we decided to have our own Christmas, right here in the dorm."

"Can we do that?"

"Sure can. Got permission to use the common room on Christmas Eve."

"Guess you're staying here then?"

"Better than Christmas with grandma. And besides, as long as we can have a good time, family's not really that important when it comes to parties."

"Can't argue with that."

"You should try. It's weird, having the last word."

Miki balanced her now heavy basket.

"Okay, then how about I pitch in as well?"

"Not going home?"

"Nope. And like you said, parties are great even without parents."

She sat the basket down, and went to pick up a second one.

"What do you say to some Indian specials?"

Suzu shrugged. "Who's going to make it?"

"Me, silly. I haven't been a cook apprentice for four years in vain."

"Aren't you too young to be hired?"

"Not if my dad's the cook." She replied.

The girls walked around the shelves, picking up several ingredients which Miki picked out. Much to her dislike, there were few of the things she needed.

"Shoot, guess I need to make a visit at the downtown market. I should have all I need by lunchtime. We can do the cooking in the afternoon."

Suzu looked puzzled. "Why on earth go to all the trouble? I've got plenty here as it is!"

"It's bad luck to visit someone in India without bringing them some food."

"Yeah, but this is a party."

"So what? Still a good excuse to polish up my cooking skills. Haven't had the chance since…"

She looked down at her bandaged stump.

The two girls made their way to the counter, which, at this hour, was devoid of any queue line. By the time they had come out of the store, small but undeniable snowflakes were falling down on them, like a white, transparent veil. With a rather sizable bag, the girls began their ascend back to Yamaku. The road was fairly clean of snow, and traffic was generally light. The late afternoon light was obscured by both the snow, and now, the thing haze that was now beginning to form around the hills.

Suzu walked a few steps behind Miki, keeping an eye on the taller girl. The groceries bags were somewhat heavy, and the ascend made them feel like gym weights.

"You okay back there?"

"Fine, just…fine." Replied Suzu, forcing herself to keep focused. A flake fell on her eyelashes, making her loose vision for a brief second. The bad part of her condition was that it gave little to no warning.

She noticed Miki bending down, and before she could even ask, a soft lump of snow struck her shoulder.

"Hey!"

"Think fast!" giggled the Indian girl, hurling another projectile. Fortunately, this one was poorly made, and disintegrated into a spurt of white, icy cascade on Suzu's face.

"Watch it, you're going to make me drop these!" she retorted, dodging another one.

"Hardly. You've got one hand busy, I've got one hand missing. So it's a one hand snowball fight."

"A what?" asked Suzu, now on her guard.

"Snowball fights. You know, the stuff you don't do at the literature club?"

Suzu's eyes flared, and for the first time, Miki saw in the girl before her what the track team must have seen when looking into her eyes before each race. The blue haired girl picked up a fist of snow, and threw it, hitting the bark of a nearby tree. The shock loosened the snow on the branches above, and it came down like a shower on the brown girl, coating her long hair.

"Lucky hit!" growled Miki, throwing another ball, striking Suzu in the knee. Pain flared in her head, as she grasped her damaged leg. Miki dropped the ball she was about to throw, and was ready to move in to help, when Suzu quickly scooped a handful of snow, throwing it against Miki's hip.

"Sneaky little bugger." She yelped, throwing a ball of her own, which went right past Suzu's right ear.

By this point, both girls were red in the face, and their hairs white with snow. Suzu dodged a low strike from Miki, and as she was lowering to make a ball of her own, she felt her eyelids getting heavy.

_Poop, not again. _

**0000**

Suzu's eyes opened to the all familiar sight of her room. She was dressed in her pajamas. The clothes she had used to go shopping were nowhere to be seen. The girl entered one hand under the waistline of her pants, and felt a sigh of relief. _At least Miki didn't take off my panties for drying as well._

She got out of bed, and began to sift through the chaos of her room, until she found a medicine bottle. It read Methylin on the label. She popped one tablet into her mouth and preceded to undress. Most of her clothes, not counting the uniform were average. Nothing too classy, and none of them revealing in any way. As she made her way to the closet to pick up a clean t-shirt, she caught a glance of herself in the mirror above the nightstand. Her body was a veritable map of her condition. A green spot here, a bandage there, some scabs on her arms and elbows. The crowning achievement was her knee brace. She'd won that after falling off a stair.

Suzu sighed. The point when she would wallow in self-pity was long past. In some strange twist of irony, she had come to see her marks as badges of honor. And while her mother had hammered on the point of _accepting who you are, _she had no need for a parent to tell her that. After a year at Yamaku, it had become second nature. Few students felt ashamed or inferior here. On the contrary, many were even proud.

Getting dressed, she opened the door, only to nearly bump nose to nose against her favorite Indian friend. Miki had a wide grin on her face, while trying to balance a rather large tray with her good arm and her stump.

"Wakey wakey buttercup. Dinner's served."

"How long have I been out this time?" yawned Suzu.

"Four hours. Got you here by taxi. Hope you don't mind, but I took the liberty of taking your clothes to the laundry room to dry."

"That's…fine, I guess." She replied, rubbing her eyes, and then looking down at the plate. "Looks too good to be an instant, right?"

"Yup. Curry and rice. Easiest thing I could whip up on such a short notice. Now what do you say we dig in."

Suzu gave a sleepish nod, then took the plateau from Miki's arms. She placed it on the floor, and the two girls sat on the carpet.

"Know what I was thinking?" asked Miki, lifting up her fork.

"Whmmt?" replied Suzu, her mouth full of rice.

"Maybe I should attack this to my…missing part. And call myself captain fork."

"Why…do that?"

"I don't know, it just seemed like something that would pass for normal here. I mean, they allow all sorts of prosthetics, why not this."

"I wouldn't try it." replied Suzu, taking another bite.

"Why?"

"Because, Captain Fork sounds too much like Captain Fuck."

Miki almost spilled the content of her mouth.

"What on earth?"

"Sorry, you just pumped too much adrenaline into me back there with that bombardment. Come to think of it, it gave me an idea. No, I mean yes, a great idea."

"For what?"

"The next literature club, silly. We needed to write a story on the meaning of Christmas. That's my title: _One-handed snowball fight._"

"Be looking forward to reading that. As for me, I've got a challenge of my own tomorrow." She announced, stretching her arms.

"Like what?"

"That little Ibarazaki dared me to a hundred meter dash in the snow. The nerve, she even said that my legs can't handle it!"

A vein began to bulge on the side of Miki's head, as she raised her stump.

"I'm going out there! And I'm going to…come…down…on…her…LIKE THIS!" she yelled, slamming her stump right in the middle of the curry plate.

Miki looked at her friend, which had remained impassive for most of the display of force, then down at the plate. Her bandage was now a light shade of brown.

"Guess you were right, snowball fights do have a way of getting to you."

"I guess." Yawned the other girl, gently settling on her back.

"Back to dreamland again?" asked Miki, getting up.

"Nah, that's just the pills. Sometimes they keep me awake, sometimes….like now…"

Suzu's eyes were now nearly closed, and by some strange biological miracle, she still managed to focus on Miki.

"Can you tuck me in?" she pleaded, yawning with a full mouth.

"Alright, here comes your right-hand girl." She chuckled, placing an arm around Suzu's waist. The sleepy girl managed to get her arm around her friend's neck, and the two made their way to the bed. Suzu slopped onto the sheets, and turned a weary gaze to Miki.

"I don't know if it's the pills, but…hick…you…man, now I'm really feeling weird…look like…what's that word?"

The word never came. Only the gentle sound of Suzu's breathing. Miki smiled, and wrapped the blanket around her.

"Night, princess." She whispered.

A whisper only heard by Suzu's four walls.


End file.
